“Not in the least. I’m not changing anything about the way you think or even your perception. I just did a little reinforcement. When you’re raw, you need a little bandage to make you stop thinking about the wound.”
And she was still aware of that hurtful wound, but it was anger, not agony that she was feeling. Anger at Jelak. “You’re a dangerous man, Caleb.”
“Not to you.” He got to his feet. “Well, yes, I should probably qualify that. Not intentionally. I’ll make us a pot of coffee. Where’s Jane?”
“With Patty again. I’m not much company when I’m finishing up a reconstruction.” She got to her feet and went over to the skull. “Don’t tell her or Joe about the call. If he wanted to hurt Joe through me, I’m not going to let him do it. Why are you here, Caleb?”
“I wanted to check to make sure you were okay. I’ve been uneasy since Quinn shot Jelak. It opened a whole new spectrum of problems.”
“Jelak’s still after basically the same thing.”
“But just the fact that he called you indicates that his mindset has changed. He was being moderately cautious before. That’s gone.”
“But if he’s careless, that may be good for us.”
“He won’t be careless. He’s smart, he’s been trained by an expert, and he’s had years of experience. Bold doesn’t mean careless.”
“He was enraged at Joe.” She shivered. “Ugly rage.”
“Quinn is standing in his way.”
“The way to me.”
He nodded. “His whole focus for years has been on this final ritual. Now he’s not sure if he might have to delay it if the blood he lost was important to his resurrection.”
“How would he know?”
“He might suspect by the way he feels. No way to be sure until after he takes you.” He smiled without mirth. “Then if he doesn’t become a god, he’ll know he has to keep on with the rituals until he feels the power.”
“Which means that he could be killing indefinitely. Particularly if his definition of power is the ability to become invisible.”
He nodded. “But he’ll go first for a known power source.”
She knew where he was going and it terrified her. “Jane.”
He held out the coffee cup to her. “She’s definitely a powerful woman. She’d be on his list. Either before or after. You knew that.”
Yes, she had known, but the thought still frightened her. Caleb wanted her to be frightened, she realized suddenly. “My Lord, you’re devious. First, you set me up by making me feel better about Bonnie, then you make me afraid for Jane. You’re trying to manipulate me.”
He nodded. “But I really didn’t mean to bring Bonnie into the mix. That was an impulse Jelak triggered. But I did come out here to prepare the way.”
“For what?”
“In the end it’s going to come down to you, Eve. You’re the prize that Jelak’s got to have. Quinn will let it go on forever if it means putting you or Jane in danger. I knew that the minute I saw Quinn with you.”
“But not you, Caleb,” she said. “You don’t care if either one of us is at risk.”
“I care.”
“That’s hard to believe.” She remembered something else. “You came here to ‘prepare the way’ with me. But you’d already done it with Jane, hadn’t you? I wondered why I felt as if the two of you had a kind of bond.”
“Very perceptive. You might say that was true.” He smiled. “We did share an experience.”
“You were covering all your bases.”
“That’s what a hunter does,” he said simply. “And I could have behaved much more dishonorably than I did.”
“So what happens now?”
“Nothing. Both of you know what you should do to save lives. You know that I’m ready to help you.” He set his cup down on the counter. “And it may all be for nothing. Quinn may be able to bring Jelak to his knees without me involving you as bait. It would be a wonderful and welcome solution.”
“You won’t be involving me or Jane,” Eve said. “We won’t allow you to manipulate us, Caleb. You may have set us up, but that’s as far as it goes. Any action we take will be our decision.”
“I didn’t expect anything else.” He turned and moved toward the door. “But you have my number, and you know I’m here for you when the time is right.”
“You’re very sure, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” His smile disappeared, and she could see an element of regret in his expression. “I’ve been a hunter for a long time. I can see the pattern.”
Eve stood there for a moment after he had walked out the door. It was exasperating that she couldn’t dislike him. She wished she could attribute it to that strange persuasive ability Caleb seemed to possess, but she believed him when he had told her that he could have been more dishonorable. He was probably being as ethical as he could be considering he was such a ruthless bastard.
